Fantasy Football POV: Philadelphia will beat New Orleans in NFC Wild Card game 1

Looking ahead to the NFL wild card weekend, WSJ's Geoff Foster and Kevin Clark preview the match-up between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New Orleans Saints.

on.aol.com

The Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) will beat the New Orleans Saints (11-5) by a touchdown, 35-28, in the first NFC Wild Card playoff game Saturday.

From a fantasy football POV (Point of View), the Eagles have more offensive talent and a distinct advantage in playing at home and outdoors. The Saints are notorious for having a hard time winning on the road. They were 3-5 in away games and 8-0 at home.

Philadelphia has a rushing advantage. LeSean McCoy led the league by running for 1,607 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also had 52 catches for 539 yards and two touchdowns as a pass receiver.

The Eagles also feature DeSean Jackson, who is the No. 10 wide receiver in fantasy football. He was the model of consistency this season and caught 82 passes for 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns.

The Saints' best pass catcher is tight end Jimmy Graham. He is the best at his position and caught 86 passes for 1,215 yards and 12 touchdowns. If the Eagles "D" can neutralize Graham, the Saints will find it even tougher to win a road playoff game.

The two starting quarterbacks, the Saints' Drew Brees and the Eagles' Nick Foles, are both equally outstanding and offset each other. Brees finished as the No. 2 quarterback in fantasy football, but based on per game scoring average Foles was right behind him at No. 3.

Unless the weather turns unexpectedly nasty in Philadelphia, it should be a high-scoring game with the Eagles winning by a touchdown.

Share this article

Deni Martin was born and raised in the metro Detroit area. He cut his fantasy teeth in the late 1970's predicting the weekly outcome of NFL football games and started participating in fantasy football leagues in the mid-90's. He has covered Detroit fantasy sports for the Examiner since June, 2009 and has spent the last two NFL seasons collaborating with other fantasy experts to give readers a full spectrum of NFL fantasy football coverage. Deni enjoys covering fantasy football, because it is extremely challenging, competitive and entertaining. Contact Deni.